A simple DocuSign alternative for your electronic signatures
Looking for a professional electronic signature solution that is easier to use day-to-day? Certyneo lets you send, track and manage your documents for signing online.
Comparison last updated
Why look for a DocuSign alternative?
We read the 117 French-language Trustpilot reviews of Docusign rated 1 to 3 stars, as collected on 25 September 2026. Support comes up in more than one review in three; next come price, cancellation and identity verification.
High cost
DocuSign starts at €9/month for a single user, with an annual commitment. The Standard plan costs €23 per user per month for 100 envelopes per user per year: the cost climbs with the team, and the quota runs out fast.
Refunds limited to the first 30 days
DocuSign subscriptions renew automatically on their anniversary date, and the lowest prices assume an annual commitment. Under its refund policy, DocuSign only considers a request if the cancellation happens within the first 30 days.
Exposure to US Cloud Act
DocuSign is a US company subject to the Cloud Act. Even with the EU hosting option, your data remains subject to potential US legal requests.
Advanced signature on quote only
The advanced signature is not self-service at DocuSign: it requires a quote, on the enhanced plans. At Certyneo, it is included from the Personal plan at €9 per month, with no commitment.
No permanent free plan
DocuSign offers only a 30-day free trial. For low volumes, no sustainable free option exists.
English-language interface by default
DocuSign's interface is English by default. French support is available only on Enterprise plans.
What alternative to DocuSign for a small business?
A small business does not choose on the same criteria as a large account. What matters with three employees is not the depth of the connector catalog: it is not paying one seat per person who sends, and being able to stop the following month.
Do not pay per seat
This is the line item that explodes first in a small structure: as soon as the manager, assistant, and sales representative all send documents, billing per user triples the bill at constant volume. Look for pricing based on volume sent.
No annual commitment
A small business signs a lot in March and nothing in August. An annual subscription paid upfront makes you finance the quiet months; a cancelable monthly plan lets you scale down when activity drops.
Usable without IT department
No integration project, no consultant: the first document must go out on the day of registration. Verify that there is a free plan to try it on a real contract before taking out your credit card.
What we recommend based on your size
| Your situation | What works | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Independent, a few signatures per month | A free plan, then a per-envelope offer | Below a handful of monthly sendings, no subscription is justified. At Certyneo, the free plan covers 5 envelopes per month for the first 14 days, then 2 per month, and the first paid plan starts at €9/month for 25 envelopes. |
| SME with 1 to 10 employees, multiple people sending | Volume-based pricing, not per-seat | This is the threshold where the billing model decides everything: the Standard plan at €19/month includes 100 envelopes and 10 users, whereas an offer billed per sending user multiplies the price by the number of people. |
| SME with 10 to 50 employees, regular volume | A volume-based plan, with API and advanced signature included | At this stage, the items that are expensive with American publishers are the options: API, strong authentication, CRM connectors. Including them in the plan rather than billing them separately changes the annual invoice far more than the advertised price. |
Prices excluding taxes collected in May 2026. As a benchmark, DocuSign's entry-level offer is listed at $10/month for one user, and its team offer at $40 per user per month.
The best DocuSign alternatives
- 1.
Certyneo
RecommendedStrengths
- Permanent free plan (5 envelopes for 14 days, then 2/month)
- REST API from €19/month
- Exclusive EU hosting, outside Cloud Act
- Interface in 24 languages
- 70% cheaper than DocuSign on average
Limitations
- Smaller partner network than DocuSign
- Fewer native enterprise integrations (Salesforce, Workday)
Pricing : Free → €9 → €19 → €39 → €99/month
- 2.
Yousign
France HostingStrengths
- French company, hosted on OVHcloud
- Simple interface
- GDPR-native
Limitations
- Free plan capped at 2 signature invitations per month
- API sold separately, from €104 excl. VAT/month
- Only 10 languages
Pricing : Free → €9 excl. VAT → €23 → €38 excl. VAT/user/month
- 3.
Adobe Sign
If you use AdobeStrengths
- Integrated with Acrobat Pro if already licensed
- Advanced PDF workflows
- Large ecosystem of integrations
Limitations
- US company, Cloud Act
- High cost if you don't already use Adobe
- API by quote only
Pricing : $15 → $24 → Enterprise/user/month
- 4.
PandaDoc
For sales teamsStrengths
- Rich proposal editor
- Advanced CRM integrations
- Free plan with unlimited signatures
Limitations
- US company, Cloud Act
- API reserved for $49/user/month
- QES not available
Pricing : Free → $19 → $49/user/month
What Certyneo offers
This page presents Certyneo as a suitable alternative for businesses seeking simplicity, efficiency and quick onboarding.
| Need | Certyneo | DocuSign |
|---|---|---|
| GDPR hosting in the European Union | ||
| Data outside the US Cloud Act | ||
| Per-envelope pricing (not per user) | ||
| Permanent free plan (5 envelopes for 14 days, then 2/mo) | ||
| Native eIDAS compliance (SES, AES, QES) | ||
| REST API and webhooks in a plan under €20 per month | ||
| Sign from mobile without app | ||
| 10 years of evidence-based eIDAS archiving |
Pricing and limits compared in detail
Public pricing in force in 2026, excluding VAT for both vendors. DocuSign's are the public euro prices shown on docusign.com, with an annual commitment.
| Criterion | Certyneo | DocuSign |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent free plan | 5 envelopes for 14 days, then 2/mo, for life, no credit card | 30-day free trial then paid plan required |
| Entry-level paid plan | €9/month (Personal plan) | €9/month with annual commitment — Personal plan, 1 user |
| Pricing model | Per envelope (monthly volume) | Per sender user (seat) |
| Cost for 10 senders | €39/month (Business, 300 env./month included) | ≈ €230/month — 10 × Standard at €23/user, annual commitment |
| REST API + webhooks | Included from Standard plan (€19/month) | Separate Developer plan, from €50/month (40 envelopes per month) |
| Qualified signature QES (eIDAS) | Per act on every plan: €14.90 without a subscription, €9.90 with one | Add-on, from €10 per recipient |
| Advanced signature AES | Included from Personal plan (€9/month) | On quote (enhanced plans) |
| Native CRM integrations | Salesforce (beta), HubSpot, Slack, Zapier, Make — from Standard €19/month | Salesforce on Business Pro ($60/user/month), HubSpot via Zapier only |
| Data hosting | European Union (French law company) | United States (EU DPA available but US parent company) |
| Cloud Act / FISA exposure | Not exposed (French entity) | Exposed (US NASDAQ-listed company) |
| Interface languages | 24 UI languages | 44 UI languages |
| AI contract generation | Included (employment contracts, NDAs, mandates, leases, quotes…) | Not natively available |
| Assisted migration | Free up to 1,000 archived envelopes | Paid Premium Support onboarding on quote |
| French support | Human, French-speaking, included in all plans | English support priority; French on Enterprise plan |
| Long-term probative archiving | 10 years RFC 3161 + PAdES included | Available (eVault) as paid option |
| Cancellation and refund | Anytime from your account area, no notice | Automatic renewal; refund considered only within the first 30 days |
Sources: DocuSign's public euro price list, collected on 2 September 2026 (monthly prices with an annual commitment), and certyneo.com/pricing. DocuSign Enterprise features are not publicly disclosed and may differ.
Why choose Certyneo?
A more direct solution for teams
Certyneo is built for businesses that want the essentials: send a document, get a signature, track progress and retrieve signed documents.
Better internal adoption
A simple solution is easier to roll out to sales, HR, administrative and legal teams.
A smooth experience for signatories
The signatory should be able to understand quickly what they need to do, without a complicated journey.
Migrate from DocuSign to Certyneo
Certyneo offers assisted migration: export of your signed envelopes, reconstruction of your templates, and rewiring of your integrations. Standard migration starts at 990 € excluding tax. The evidential value of your archives is guaranteed.
Discover our migration offerHow to migrate from DocuSign to Certyneo in 3 steps
Our team will accompany you free of charge. Average timeframe: 48 hours to 5 business days depending on volume.
1. Export from DocuSign
We retrieve your existing templates, your signatory address book, and the history of signed envelopes in PDF + certificate of completion format. Your DocuSign documents remain accessible on their platform throughout the transition period.
2. Certyneo Configuration
Reconstruction of your templates in the Certyneo editor (signatures, initials, custom fields), branding configuration (logo, colors, sender email) and creation of user accounts with equivalent roles and permissions.
3. Production deployment and training
Switch new sends to Certyneo, video training (1 hour) for your team, redirection of API integrations and webhooks. Your DocuSign signatures remain valid for life; you can also re-archive them in the Certyneo vault to consolidate.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Certyneo replace DocuSign?
- Certyneo can be an alternative for businesses looking for a simple solution to manage their electronic signatures.
- Is Certyneo suitable for SMEs?
- Yes, Certyneo is particularly suited to SMEs, freelancers and organisations that want to digitalise their signatures.
- Can contracts be signed with Certyneo?
- Yes. Commercial contracts, NDA, employment contracts, powers of attorney, leases, quotes, general terms and conditions: all types of PDF documents (and automatically converted formats: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, images) can be signed. The legal value is strictly equivalent to DocuSign across the three eIDAS levels — SES, AES and QES (the latter is native with Certyneo, charged per act at €14.90/signature without a subscription and €9.90 with one, on all plans, including Free).
- Why choose Certyneo over DocuSign?
- Three structural differences: (1) hosting and jurisdiction 100% EU, therefore outside the American CLOUD Act; (2) pricing per envelope and not per sender user, which generally divides costs by 2 to 4 for teams of 5+ people; (3) permanent free plan (5 envelopes for 14 days, then 2/mo) where DocuSign only offers a time-limited trial.
- Is DocuSign subject to the American CLOUD Act?
- Yes. DocuSign Inc. is an American company listed on NASDAQ, subject to the CLOUD Act and FISA. Even when data is hosted in the EU, American authorities can compel the parent company to disclose the data — the CNIL and EDPB have published several opinions on this residual risk. Certyneo, a French entity, is not exposed to it.
- How much does migration from DocuSign to Certyneo cost?
- Assisted migration support is free for standard volumes (template recovery, address book import, user training). For organizations with more than 1,000 archived envelopes to transfer or complex integrations (DocuSign Connect, custom API), a custom service quote starts at €990 excl. tax. See /offre-migration.
- Do my documents already signed on DocuSign remain valid?
- Yes, indefinitely. An eIDAS electronic signature is legally binding for life regardless of the platform that issued it — this is the principle of open standards PAdES and RFC 3161. Your DocuSign archives remain verifiable even after migration; we can also re-archive them in the Certyneo vault if you want to consolidate.
- What DocuSign features are found in Certyneo?
- Envelope sending, multi-signatories with guaranteed order, validators and observers, automatic reminders, reusable templates with pre-positioned fields, company stamps, custom branding, REST API + webhooks, Slack/HubSpot/Salesforce/Zapier integrations, RFC 3161 audit trail, 10-year archiving, iOS and Android mobile applications. Parity is total across the three eIDAS levels (SES, AES and QES) — Certyneo QES is delivered by a qualified QTSP from the EU trust list and charged per act at €14.90/signature without a subscription and €9.90 with one, on all plans, including Free, without an enterprise contract like DocuSign.
- How do I cancel a DocuSign subscription?
- In the account, an administrator goes to Plan and Billing, then Manage your subscription and Cancel plan. Otherwise, the subscription renews automatically on its anniversary date, and DocuSign only considers a refund request if the cancellation happens within the first 30 days. At Certyneo, you can cancel anytime from your account area, with no notice and no fees.
- What is the best free alternative to DocuSign?
- Certyneo offers a permanent free plan (5 envelopes for 14 days, then 2 per month, with no expiry), eIDAS-compliant and hosted in the European Union, from which the qualified signature remains available pay-per-use. Yousign also has a Free plan, limited to 2 signature invitations per month; PandaDoc offers a free plan, but without advanced eIDAS compliance or hosting in the European Union.
- Can you use Certyneo instead of DocuSign in France?
- Yes. Certyneo complies with the eIDAS regulation and is recognized throughout the EU. Documents signed via Certyneo have the same legal value as those signed via DocuSign under European law.
- Are DocuSign and Certyneo compatible (export/import)?
- DocuSign allows you to export signed PDFs with their completion certificate. These PDFs retain their evidential value and can be archived in Certyneo. DocuSign templates can be manually reconstructed.
- How much do you save by switching from DocuSign to Certyneo?
- A single sender on DocuSign Standard (€23/month with an annual commitment) vs Certyneo Personal (€9/month): about 60% savings. A team of 5 senders on DocuSign Standard (€115/month) vs Certyneo Standard (€19/month): about 83% savings.
- What is the best alternative to DocuSign for a small business or SME?
- The one whose billing model matches how you work, not the one displaying the lowest headline price. A small structure almost always has several people sending documents for modest total volume: an offer billed per sending user costs several times the price of an offer billed by volume sent. Check three points before comparing grids — billing by volume and not by seat, no annual commitment, and existence of a free plan to test on a real contract.
Also discover
The other alternatives in this comparison
Each page follows the same layout: why leave, what Certyneo offers instead, when to stay.
Looking for a simple alternative for your electronic signatures?
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